Page 12 of Sultry Nights

He watched as she pulled away from the bar and then he heard laughing.

He turned to see his friend, Jace, leaning against the door jamb, holding the door open with his butt, staring at him. "I'll see you, Hanna," he teased.

Quinn shook his head, "Fuck you. Let's go out and look at where you want this stage built."

Jace laughed and strutted across the sand.

Quinn followed. He wasn't going to hear the end of this.

7

Hanna fanned herself with her right hand while gripping the steering wheel with her left. It was sure warm today. She pushed the blue arrow up, on her console to turn the air conditioning up a couple of notches.

Her stomach still fluttered with butterflies as she passed the other businesses in town to get to the bakery. Quinn Kurtz was as handsome as he was charismatic. That stopped those butterflies from flying. Was she nuts? The last thing in the world she needed was another charismatic man in her life. Hadn't Isaac twisted her around enough for the rest of her life? She should look up Quinn's number and call tonight off. This was a bad idea.

Just as she put her SUV in park behind the bakery, her phone rang. She jumped when it did. Her mind had been on other things.

She saw her friend, Jalyn's name on the screen and pushed the button on her steering wheel to answer the call. "Hey, girl. How are you?"

"What's wrong? You sound stressed."

She let her breath out, and it also deflated her shoulders at the same time. "Oh, Jalyn. I'm a mess." Her bottom lip quivered. She had so many things going on right now. She could feel all the tears rushing to the surface even now.

"No! What's wrong?" She took a breath. "Wait. I'll come to the bakery around two o'clock. You can tell me in person."

She sniffed. "Okay." She managed to get out without bursting into tears.

"Okay. Hang tight. I'll be there then."

The phone went dead. Hanna sucked in a few breaths and got herself under control. Blowing out one last breath, she exited her SUV and trudged up the sidewalk to her bakery. One last big breath before entering. She plastered on a fake smile and opened the back door.

"Hey, there. That didn't take long." Her mom smiled brightly at her.

She watched her mom fumble slightly with the spatula as she moved the cookies off a baking pan and slid them onto the tray. Her hands didn't work like they used to. The arthritis had stiffened her knuckles and bent them out of shape. Her stomach dropped at the sight of the struggle, but she swallowed the lump that had formed and continued into the kitchen.

"No, it doesn't take long. Thank you for sitting here and helping out. I sure do appreciate it."

"Oh, honey. Of course. I kind of miss it, you know? So, I'm happy to come for an hour or so while you do deliveries."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Are you okay, honey? You seem down."

"Yeah. I'm fine, Mom. I'm just..." She was what? Dealing with Isaac's shit again? Some woman wanted thousands of dollars. Her own bank account had been drained. And, she made a date she had no business making with another man who was handsome and charming? She sounded simply pathetic.

"Just what honey?"

Stupid. She was stupid and gullible. "Tired."

"Oh, honey, between fixing up your place and the bakery, you're working far too hard."

There were those tears again. Her nose tickled as the feelings washed over her. Softly she said, "Yeah. I might close early today and take a nap."

"Oh, now that's a great idea. You can go right now if you need to. I can stay a while longer."

"Mom, I don't want you to have to do that."

"It's no problem, honey."

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